Rorke's Drift: 139 British Soldiers Hold Against 4,000 Zulu
Eleven Victoria Crosses. That's how many medals were awarded for a single battle - more than in any other single engagement in British military history. When 139 British soldiers held Rorke's Drift, they weren't just fighting. They were improvising a defense from a small mission station, stacking mealie bags and creating walls, turning a supply depot into an impossible fortress. The Zulu warriors attacked wave after wave, and somehow these soldiers - many wounded already - held. Eleven hours of brutal combat. Outnumbered 20 to 1. And they survived.
January 22, 1879
147 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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